Renaissance
by laviere
Summary: My contribution towards SasuHina Renaissance Week 2k18. June 27th-Woes: In which Sasuke's reached a rut in his life and the owner of the coffee shop the street unwittingly ales/aides with their light night run-ins.
1. Chapter 1

**Prompt: Life/Death AU**

 **Notes: I'm late, of course. I also posted this ao3 if you prefer, which I'm going to make my junk site, while I keep my FFNet clean and neat and tidy and free of one-shots and the like (which I don't post). My internet was acting up so I will probably upload two chapters tomorrow for the 27th and 28th and then it'll flow from there. While this is happening I won't be updating anything else for a week. Ya'll like zombies?**

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 **June 26th/2018  
** **WHIMS: Life/Death AU**

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"Are you okay with this?"

Hesitant, raw-knuckled hands reached out for her but she smacked it away callously—uncharacteristically, wholly contrary to the softly forlorn expression on her face.

Sasuke felt no offense, instead leaning in to kiss the tear at the edge of her eye that he knew she'd been willing not to fall, gaining no response. Hinata just let him do as he pleased, feeling his lips gently brush against her other cheek (because she yearned for it, even if she wouldn't admit it).

Dropping the gun to steady her noticeably less battered hands on his neck, she held him as she angled herself away from him. The look she'd given him flashed in their stubbornness, and she her brows were knit in frustration—how could he ever, _ever_ think she would be okay with it?

A sigh, discontent and equally as frustrated threatened to whisper passed his lips because he was just as stubborn as she was. But he couldn't be impatient, no; he had to try calmly in a voice that told that her it would be okay otherwise she would never agree. What could he expect after all? They were more similar in this regard, selfish and far too passionate.

There was a difference though, he could see it in the weight of her stare, as if she were daring him to try to change her mind. He knew he was losing the battle, he'd already lost one too many, but even if he was inevitably festering inside out—no. There was only the inescapable for the remainder of his life, and he refused to let Hinata be caught in the cross-hairs. At the end of the day, one of them would die.

So he needed to ask again, voice unsteady:

"Hinata—"

"No!" She wasn't particularly loud, her voice was only just above its normal range, but it was the fear and finality that she carried in her cadence through the silent, empty barricaded room that made her sound as if she had shouted.

Because, how could it alright to ask?

Sasuke was everything.

All she had and would ever have again, the only one from home, and she loved him so dearly. How could he even possibly ask?

Sasuke kept looking her in the eye, perhaps in his depths she could find a glimmer of a way he could concede as he gripped onto her shoulders.

"You promised." It made Hinata widen her eyes in awe of the fact that he had the audacity to bring that up. He stated it as if were an everyday fact, as if it wasn't so completely circumstantial. Sasuke watched her reaction, treading lightly, feeling as if he were walking around broken glass. "It was agreed that if should one of us turn—"

"That was different, that was before!"

This time she actually had shouted, every syllable strung with all the urgency she could muster. Sasuke couldn't be impartial to the fact that it was before they had what they did; this precious, consuming happiness in the midst of only grief and dystopia. That promise was made on a tear-stained lawn where they'd haphazardly buried a friend, she knew he understood this, he was grasping at straws—

It was then that she'd realized that it wasn't audacious, not even close. His eyes were coal-coloured and heavy. Sasuke was looking at her just as she was looking at him, as desperate as the last light of a dying star, but with a love as intense as the sun.

They were wrapped around each other on the hardwood floor of an abandoned apartment, but really it was just like every other use-to-be home. The infrequent drip from a tap that had forgotten to be dried (no more water would flow from it than the drip). The cupboards had been raided, blood splattered at random on the furniture (probably from multiple disconnected incidents), and the windows were locked. It was rather daunting, or it would've been, they were far too desensitized.

One window was broken, cool wind could easily drift to their ears, and outwards again, to whomever's ears just happen to be closer, carrying with it ever noise that they make. It was dangerous, the monsters had inhumane hearing, but it was the only apartment in the building that had a key.

Hinata let out the sigh that Sasuke would not. It was hesitant and slow, brushing against his cheeks. Sasuke watched her indecision cross her features before she hastily detangled herself from him and began to walk away from him

"Hinata."

She quickened her pace towards the door, grabbing the key from its hole and running to the other side of the building, which was not large at all, making her trip not less than nine steps, but Sasuke had caught on by the third and stood up to block her way.

"Hinata!"

She skidded across the floor in an attempt to dodge him but Sasuke had excellent aim and tackled her, making that both struggle on the floor, amass of limbs and cussing before Sasuke was leaning a little more heavily on one side—the wrong side, which gave Hinata the chance to procure her right hand from behind her back and throw the key.

Sasuke's eyes widened and he reached, only a little too late before the key flew out of the window.

He looked at Hinata, who lied beneath him.

His breathing was heavy, his shaggy hair surrounded his face like a halo. She could tell he was trying to be angry at her, but he looked more conflicted withsuch tragic circumstances that even his temper couldn't overthrow his sadness. She reach her hands to his face, cupping both side of his face.

"I only have one bullet left." He lamented, still heaving above her. "How are you going to leave? You can't use it on the lock, you have to use it on _me_."

She didn't think he understood.

Sasuke was _everything._ Her everything _._

The rest? Dead or lost.

Hinata pushed herself up to plant her lips on his, kissing him gently. She pulled away from his unresponsiveness only but a fraction.

"I love you."

Sasuke surveyed her expression, knowing that it was true not only because it wasn't the first time she'd said it, but knowing she had no idea what she was doing.

He didn't respond to it, not with words, instead crashing his lips to hers, hunger and desperation at the cusp of his tongue as it delved into her mouth. Hinata shut her eyes, wrapping her arms around his neck, reciprocating with as much emotion, laying them both back onto the floor.

Sasuke kissed her roughly while a hand rand up her side to cup a breast, squeezing her through layers of fabric. Hinata gasped at the pressure, the light embers of pain slowly flushing away as he took his mouths attention to her neck. Hinata hummed satisfactorily at the feeling. She dragged her knees apart so that Sasuke could settle between her legs, where she'd begun to ache for him.

Her hands flitted to his broad back, she slowly rubbing downwards—

Sasuke let out a pained groan, practically jumping from her grasp. He scrambled back, gritting his teeth in an effort to handle the waves upon waves upon waves of torture that flooded just underneath his skin. His stomach flipped. He thought he would be sick.

In the background Hinata attempted to get closer, sputtering apologies, worry masking her face.

Sasuke's breathing was deep and sharp as he slowly gained his wits, he could only look at the floor. When he looked up again, Hinata was kneeling in front of him sympathy stitched across her face as she regarded him. In front of her she held her hands open, they were soaked with blood transferred from his back.

"Let me see." She asked delicately, and he knew she was trying to be sensitive about it, but it was something that also caused her great pain.

Shifting backwards, Sasuke turned around and began to peel away his only two layers of clothing. This new lifestyle forced them to wear every clothing item they had, which couldn't be a lot lest their baggage slowed them down. It was summer, so thankfully he didn't have to wear too much, merely the only t-shirt he owned (but, for Hinata's sake more than his own, he covered it with a thin jacket).

He was thankful to the fact, when the sun blared and the sweat that coated his skin was his only reprieve. He was thankful, but it was the only reason his injury had occurred. He was thankful, on the first day of summer, when the chill of winter had completely receded during spring, and he was holding Hinata's body closely in the morning for reasons other than warmth.

When his jacket disappeared he could hear Hinata's gasp muffled in the palm of her hand.

His shirt was shredded, black as it was the slickness of blood was visible and spread throughout his entire backside, accumulating from the place of attack. His shirt hurt to take off, he kissed with pain as the fabric grazed the wound and somehow burned when the air hit it.

Hinata stared in horror, eyes watering as they gazed upon the open flesh. Teeth marks and scratches engraved on a smooth porcelain surface, deep gashes from where it had attacked, and skin torn like paper.

They both knew these wounds, riddled with the infection, would not stop bleeding until he was dead. And the flow of the blood was the last sign of life within Sasuke, though cursed, it was blessing.

If only he could keep on bleeding, now that the damage was done.

She though back to how the zombie had jumped on his back, gnawing and clawing at whatever it could get a hold of. The fear made her gut wrench, she remembered, shooting at it until she was out of bullets—and yet, ironically, it was the handle of the gun smashed on its desecrating nose repeatedly that made it fall.

And she hadn't stopped, she just kept on beating it in until what was left of its deteriorated flesh had splattered on her shirt, on the floor and on her hands. She couldn't stop until its brain coated her clothing, so that she could be sure that it didn't get back up. She didn't stop until Sasuke had regained his wits enough to drag away.

And they ran and they kept running until they found this building, the key to the apartment buried under the debris of the reception, and no sign of the undead…yet.

Hinata remembered her fear when she'd seen the monster latched onto Sasuke, assaulting him, and the very same fear made her sob at the sight of his wounds.

She could tell how it hurt, how he occasionally flinched even though nothing was touching him.

It was only a matter of time before…

"Hinata…you promised."

She had promised.

After Ino had been turned (by a series of shallow scratches on her right forearm), she promised him. That had happened over a year ago, right after they'd been separated from Shino, Tenten, and Kakashi. She'd looked him in his eye as they stood over Ino's makeshift grave and vowed to grant each the same mercy.

But now Sasuke was she had, all she valued. Survival had gone from a given, to a luxury to chore over the years. They hadn't found Tenten, or Shino, or Kakashi. They didn't know if anyone they knew was still alive. The void of an apocalyptic world was heavy, grief-ridden and taxing in infinite ways. She had felt nearly every tier of pain and hopelessness since its beginning—

No, without Sasuke she would _every_ single goddamn tier of grief and hopelessness.

How could he ask it of her?

She began to weep uncontrollably, gasping for air and covering her face shamefully.

Sasuke moved quickly to hold her in his arms, rubbing her hair.

He understood her conflict, had nightmares about being in her position, but had they expected? To live long enough to see a cure, get married…have a child?

It was impossible if not beyond unlikely.

So he held her until her cries stilled, feeling a similar saltiness brew at the corners of his eyes. And he let it fall, as he laid her back down on the hard floor and they just laid.

Trying to find bits of comfort from birds chirping, or the silence, or the sun's warm rays through the broken window.

Somewhere along the lines, Hinata's lids had grown far too heavy.

She didn't dream, and if she had then she'd forgotten.

But she had been asleep for hours, eyes groggy before widening to an impossible degree, because she felt so cold.

At first she thought it was because Sasuke had stopped holding her to jump out of window, because it was three stories high and he would die, he would've killed himself without giving her a chance to say goodbye, but as she tried to turn she realized she couldn't.

Sasuke still had one arm wrapped around her…but the arm was stiff and cold. The arm of a body having gone through rigor mortis .

Hinata would've screamed but she was stuck. Time had stopped. Shock and abandonment, the pain of losing someone she so greatly loved, the feelings of desperation and fear that had been clogging her throat and removing her ability to breathe—it vanished. All that remained was her, empty, in the arms of her dead lover.

She wanted to. She wanted to shout and scream at the unfairness—they had both been robbed of a choice at any sort of normalcy. There was no dull droll of everyday that gave them time to decide to be together, there was only now or never, ever, ever, _ever_.

She wanted someone to hurt because of it, she wanted whatever had caused this to feel the amount of despondency that she felt.

She remembered how Ino had transformed, only a day it took. Only a few hours for her to lose her life and only a few more before she woke up. But wasn't Ino that had woken up. It was something that had the cruelness of a murderer but lacked the sentience of one. It was some sort of joke, some cruel sport of the gods that couldn't even blame them for it. They're _dead_.

Sasuke would be going through the same, living life without any blood flowing through his veins. He wouldn't be Sasuke. He wouldn't love her.

And, as she robotically struggled to get out of his grip, she had to remember that he wouldn't be who she loved.

She didn't love a zombie, she loved Uchiha Sasuke, one of the strongest proudest people she knew. Not some bloodthirsty, cannibalistic piece of shit that couldn't think past getting a meal.

She did.

There were tears streaking down her cheeks, an endless river, but there tears alone. Her shoulder remained aligned, as if she was not wracked with grief. She did not struggle for breath, she breathed evenly, only the occasional stutter in her airflow. A

In his backpack was his gun, a thick jacket and some gauze. (He'd found the gun somewhere along the way. It was a revolver, with only four bullets at its disposal. He barely used it (preferring a machete, for which you needed no ammo), but when he did, he made it count. Sasuke had excellent aim.)

She carried the food that they found and her own handgun. She'd lost it after beating the zombie that would turn Sasuke.

It wouldn't be long until he turned, until he opened his glazed eyes and hungered for human flesh and only human flesh.

Pointing the revolver at Sasuke, she lowered her thumb on the hammer, clicking it into place.

It was time to fulfill the promise she'd made.

Hinata steadied her feet. It wouldn't be long until an army of zombies was bashing their door down at the sound of gunfire. She could escape through the window, scale down the building, and run.

Curling her forefinger on the trigger, she realized that it had become a comforting thing through the years. She'd used it to protect people and herself. And so that made it a little easier to protect herself once again.

She didn't need much aim.

One…Two…

Hesitation. Fear.

Two…

Three—

 _Bang!_

The noise smacked the walls, the rebuttal sent her to her knees before the woman feel into her face. Blood began to leak from the gaping hole where her ear used to be, smoke floating from the burned skin as blood began to pool around her head.

In the end she couldn't fulfill that vow. She had condemned Sasuke (but that was just it, it _wouldn't_ be Sasuke) to a life that he could not control.

The reason was simple.

Sasuke was **everything**.


	2. Chapter 2

**Prompt(s): Coffee Shop AU/Hate my Job & Boss AU**

 **Notes: A few mature themes. Let's pretend it's the 27th of June.**

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 **June 27th/2018**

 **WOES: Coffee Shop AU, Hate My Job/Boss AU**

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Daylight was a bustling mess. It was absolutely, infinitely unfortunate for Sasuke, who had within him a sense of introverted ease that was quite easily, if not deliberately, interrupted. He hated it. What he wanted and craved on a day to day basis was…

That was it.

That was the end of a thought process, because he didn't know. When he thought about that, coupled with his age, it conjured a feeling that ate away at his insides. It was a feeling that he'd lived quite far past his expiration date, much like the month old 'fresh' milk he'd bought. He didn't much like milk, so he didn't remember why it was there. Then again, in this godawful persistent world, he didn't know why he did things without the involvement of his own inclination.

Sasuke blamed it all on his childhood.

He was spoiled but still worked much too hard to please people who would eventually be undeserving of his time, if his time was of any value at all. Still, they weren't worth the little insecurity he spent trying to please and perpetuate everything that was desired of him; elegance, charm, amiability, physical appeal—the list went on where Sasuke could not follow. He scoffed because that was a perfect description of his brother, whom he loved dearly, should that love not be touched by the slightest amount of resentment.

He'd always known his parents had expected him to pop out and exceed their deliriously tall expectations (although, deep down, they knew he'd never compare to Itachi). Somehow he dreaded what he so longed for: Living up to them.

He dreaded it because he knew they'd just want more. The inexplicable 'more'. The cunning ' _more'_ that they would never fucking get. It lurked in a shadow of a better man, and he'd pushed.

He'd pushed and pushed and pushed until it skinned his palms and he looked back at the twenty-seven years that he'd spent with no satisfaction through his own eyes, or anyone else's eyes for that matter.

* * *

 _ **Beep**_

" _Yo Teme! Can you still make it tonight? We haven't seen each other in aaaages. Heh, Sakura and I really miss you, ya know? So just come."_

* * *

Night time meant less hassle. Sasuke had wound up at the tiny little coffee shop in his street that somehow managed to remain lit well passed business hours.

It was late, sure, and the shop was empty, but the chimes that had welcomed him seemed comforting in a way that a bell would not have.

His leather shoes, smoothly polished and expensive, clacked on the wooden floors as his stride had reached the bar to seat himself. He'd just registered how desolate the place was when a young woman had popped from beyond the kitchen.

She floated around to the bar, perching the flat of her arm from her wrist to her elbows on the counter and leaned forward. The woman looked at him with the most delightfully charming grin and the most beautiful set of pearly eyes. It wasn't quite like anything he'd ever seen before. They shimmered like the light lip-gloss swiped across her bright smile, pushing into her round, yet modest cheeks.

"Welcome to Himari's Corner may I take you order?"

Her voice was a soft-spoken tune that echoed around the empty shop.

"Coffee please." His tongue was dry.

She hadn't moved from her position at all.

"Hai, hai. Would you like any dessert with that?"

"I hate dessert." He declared it in his normal voice, but she regarded him as if he'd told her he was about to sprout wings. Her eyes were slightly widened and a glaring magenta fanned out on her cheeks.

Sasuke cleared his throat.

The woman laughed. It was demure, hidden behind her hand. She was being overly polite, as many waitresses were meant to be.

"I…uhm…really? Why?" Her confusion was beyond what he could handle, her amusement was delightful to witness.

"Why? Because I don't like it. There's as much reason to it as to why you _do_ like it." Sasuke curled his lip slightly. "And I can't fathom the latter."

They both paused momentarily, as if letting his statement sink into the air in the exact amount of time it would take him to understand that he'd just made it awkward. She broke his gaze to look down at the counter. Her grin wavering before she let out an exhale-come-giggle, looking at him with a glint in her eyes that made him cock his head inquisitively.

"It's just that in that moment you reminded me of my cousin." She shook her head, and for a moment Sasuke though he saw her blink back some moisture…it must've been his imagination because her eyes were shining brightly at him again. "Black coffee, yes?"

Sasuke nodded, watching her move away to prepare his order.

He didn't stop watching until the steaming mug was placed in front of him.

He would only much later learn that she meant her _late_ cousin, and look back on this moment with a touch more understanding and an appreciation for her people skills making up for his lack thereof.

* * *

 _ **Beep**_

" _Well Sasuke, you didn't come, and that's not even the worst part. You know what Sakura said? She said she didn't really expect you to! What the fuck man, we've been friends since we were twelve, Sasuke! Twelve! Pick up your phone next time asshole!"_

* * *

He couldn't necessarily stop the thoughts as if snapping his fingers would make it go away. And even if it could…

Though it was affecting his work; when he'd watched the sunlight cascade over his office as he opened his blinds and immediately remembered her name and realized that no matter how absurdly coincidental, he thought of it.

 _Hinata_.

She was so perfectly suited to it, it was something that could so easily be romanticized had he not been a cynic at heart. He allowed himself the luxury of thinking that she was at the very least the best example of the meaning of _Hinata_ , and with that fact dawned another, as if the sunrays worked like a lightbulb aglow with epiphanies: Sasuke wanted to see her again.

And again.

And again.

So when the last dregs of daylight had been washed out with the dream-like quiet of the night, Sasuke dragged his work-abused body through those chime-charmed doors—

Again and again and again—

It really fucked with his sleep.

* * *

 _ **Beep**_

" _Has your phone actually broken? Number change? I swear next time I get off work I will fucking break your door down man."_

* * *

For some obscure reason Hinata would always stay on the other side of the bar. She'd relinquish her thin fingers hold on the handle of his mug and rest her chin on her palm as she leaned on her hands, just watching him drink. Although he wasn't too easily made anxious, Sasuke found it disconcerting to be watched as he sipped on the coffee. In fact it was the only reason he _sipped_ at all (rather than glugging).

"Why don't you ever sit on a stool?" He mentioned, struggling to hide the exasperation that he'd internally built.

Hinata herself looked scandalized by the thought, she raised her brows at him with a considerable amount of surprise, her cheeks aflush.

"Uhm, well…that would be unforgivably unprofessional." She stated, almost shuddering at the thought.

Sasuke was unamused, feeling his brow tick at her child-like dramatics.

"That's stupid, don't you own this place?"

Hinata's smile faltered and he watched with clenched teeth as she blinked at him, her slight confusion evident in her hesitation to reply. It was…vexing.

"Ah, yes, but Sasuke-kun is still a customer."

Still Sasuke was straight-faced. No one else was there, would it really be that terrible?

"Isn't the customer always right?" Sasuke could feel his insides ride to a boil, finding the furrow in her brow unreasonably infuriating. "And why is the layout of this place like a bar anyway? Isn't this a coffee shop?"

"Well—,"

"It's just really fucking stupid, you know that?"

It almost, _almost_ felt as if venting his minor irritation on these miniscule details with such vitriol was worth it—but then Hinata flinched, and he immediately regretted every bit of venom he put into such trivial things. They didn't even really annoy him, he was just…

And then Hinata was walking away, and he realized that he must've just ruined something so perfect and it made his gut feel like a sinkhole. He swallowed audibly when she reached the end of the counter and was about to say—well, _anything_ to keep her from finding a light switch and avoiding his eyes and telling him to get out.

And she was within her rights to do so, he'd disrespected her in her own business, but then she turned and made her way to the seat next to him. Sasuke was confused, so he watched her as she lifted herself to the stool and turned to face him with hurt and (perhaps) concern.

"My mother made this business from scratch, and even I can admit it's a bit strange," Hinata admitted, "but I do so love this place. I wouldn't change a thing."

"Hinata, I'm…" Sasuke buried his face in his hand, "I'm sorry. Truly."

"It's okay, I've known worse customers with less valid complaints," she assured, and he flinched at how arbitrary the things he got so worked up over were. And yet, there Hinata was, managing to lift the corners of her lips into a comforting grin. "I also know it isn't anything about _me_ they're angry about…" more hesitation, and then she rested her hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong, Sasuke-kun?"

He didn't really believe his sight, how could he? This woman had seen him two handfuls of times and yet had an infinite amount of kindness, all of which he'd done absolutely nothing to deserve. He definitely couldn't mention his lack of sleep even though that probably the main reason for his irritability.

But there was always a second reason, and his lungs deflated when he thought about his day, and he didn't even know where to start.

He supposed he knew as good a place as any.

"I hate by boss."

* * *

 _ **Beep**_

"…"

* * *

"Are you alright, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke damn near dropped his mug, making the burning liquid spill onto the counter and the hand holding it.

"Sorry," he muttered after Hinata gasped and rushed to get a cloth.

"It's okay," She smiled kindly and he saw the worried tint in her iris.

He'd been regularly making trips to her little shop for a few months now—at night, because her shift was always at night. It wasn't a twenty-four-hour business, but she owned the shop, so she could just frolic about it at night. Sasuke envied that sort of freedom…it was probably a part of the reason he kept coming back.

But when night shifted to day, he still had work to go to, and he couldn't control the sag of his eyes and the bob of his head as he almost nodded off—his recklessness was catching up to him.

"Sasuke-kun?"

But he couldn't find it in himself to stop. It was almost as if the universe had finally blessed him with something that he could lose himself in and yet simultaneously conspired against his ability to indulge in it.

He was utterly exhausted and it was fucking with his mind because not once before had he ever blamed the universe for his troubles.

"Sasuke—?"

"You're gorgeous." He was looking at her eyebrows furrowed in concern, pouty pink lips and her breathtaking eyes and he couldn't hold it in because her every facial expression was just extra emphasis on that fact.

She blinked a few times, as if trying to wrap her head around it, and then, still looking concerned, tentatively said, "Thank you,"

He made to stand up and Hinata had to actively keep herself from objecting while she watched him walk as if about to fall into a coma. She was about to call out, but he didn't see it.

* * *

 _ **Beep**_

" _Sasuke, this is Sakura, call back when you can. Naruto's been saying he can't get through to you. What's actually going on? Anyway…uhm. Yeah. This is Sakura, and please contact us. We're your friends."_

* * *

One night Sasuke wondered if she felt the same.

It was completely inappropriate on different tiers, the first being he was at work. But it was a growing irritation in his system when he felt what he felt and no idea of her own feelings, and it didn't help that these were the thoughts his mind non-consensually drifted towards. The law firm wasn't gratifying, nothing like TV, and nothing like he imagined. He didn't get any fulfilment from doing what was expected of him (he did get a very nice 'congratulations' from everyone but his father, though. That was the most 'fulfilment' he'd gotten). It was dreadfully boring.

The second tier was that he'd completely imposed on Hinata's quaint, but content life and he had no right to have these sudden expectations of her now that she was his friend.

"For fuck's sake, Sasuke."

Oh, Christ.

"'Tou-san?" Sasuke realized the gingery tint to his voice and lamented speaking immediately.

"Have you been…sleeping?" Fugaku uncrossed his arms and approached his desk, fingering at a folder. "You need to get your head out of your ass."

Sasuke blearily noted that it was quite late (as his office lights weren't even on). He was drifting again, focus becoming a luxury that his body could no longer afford.

" _Thank you." He muttered as he accepted the steaming mug of coffee._

" _My pleasure," she smiled but it hadn't reached her eyes and he wondered why but he'd only visited her—the café, a handful of times._

 _They sat in silence for a while, an unusually pregnant one (or perhaps he was just overthinking it). Sipping his coffee, he avoided looking at her._

" _What's wrong?"_

" _Nothing, I-I'm fine"_

" _That's bullshit."_

 _There was a pointed silence and then Hinata inhaled sharply. "I-I have two very important friends in my life. I dated one of them…Shino-kun. But he had to move away," Sasuke could taste the heated jealousy that rose in his throat like bile. "—and he's visiting me and my other friend, Kiba-kun, tomorrow. We're having lunch and…"_

 _He calmed down minutely, sipping on his drink. "And it's awkward."_

 _He breathed and looked at her but she was concentrating on the counter, her thick lashes fanning out against the blush on her cheeks as she nodded in affirmation to his statement…as if it had been boiling inside of him for month; he couldn't help words that next words that lurched forward from his throat._

" _Do you still have feelings for him?"_

 _Taken aback, Hinata blinked up at him and answered—_

"…What?" He blinked up at his father, his _boss_ , completely out of his reverie. Fugaku clenched his jaw, looking at Sasuke as if he were the scourge of the earth, throwing a folder he was holding back onto the desk and proceeding to walk out.

"Just get out."

Something about his mood couldn't seem to pivot because of this—because he was used to this behaviour but also something else.

" _Oh no, no nothing like that," Hinata answered, suddenly looking far away. "It's just that we don't talk much…all of us." She sighed sadly as she leaned onto the counter before him. "Kiba didn't want for us to date much anyway, he didn't say so, but he always acted weird when it was us three together and it just got worse after the breakup. We kept in touch, but separately and also scarcely. But we're childhood friends and I really miss them."_

 _Sasuke swallowed thickly, reaching up and caressing the side of her face, his thumb sliding down the shell of her ear as he tried to get her to look him in the eyes—and when she did, eyes blurred by her melancholy, he made his mouth into a tight line._

" _Hinata I don't think that you'd all put in the effort if you were okay with drifting apart. None of you would. So at least you have that."_

 _Plump pink lips offered him a shaky smile and he couldn't keep his gaze from flickering towards it. "It'll be fine…it's obvious that missing each other isn't enough."_

 _With her smile a little steadier Sasuke retracted his hand and focused on the softness of her skin tingling in his palm rather than his pointed dismissal of his own advice._

* * *

 _ **Beep.**_

" _Hey Sasuke, ya know leaving these messages is becoming a chore, why don't you just call me back, huh Teme?! Anyway I'm worried so just swallow your pride and tell me what the fuck's wrong okay…this is Naruto by the way. In case you forgot my voice."_

* * *

He was extremely late, and he knew that, he felt the consequences, and he knew the hell he was yet to pay with his boss. But the searing need not to miss her worked as enough motivation to keep going (for one night, just one night, out of the many, it was probably pointless to worry about something so completely excusable, so completely forgivable, but why compromise? He was almost there).

It was a surreal feeling, when he started running. He'd haphazardly parked his car in front of the apartment building before he rushed out the door—flinching as it slammed behind him—and began to sprint in the direction of the café.

Wind slapped his baggy eyes and his every restricted limb was compelling him to rip his suit for range of motion but that would brush off the minutes he needed to arrive. His body protested mildly, or perhaps strongly but he was numb to it, somehow.

He was floating, actually, and he heard nothing but the sounds of his own breathing.

How could he have fallen asleep at work? He knew the reason it happened, but how could he let himself?

Stupid, stupid, _stupid_.

Hinata was only just locking up when he'd arrived huffing and keeled over.

"Sasuke-kun!"

He was not an unfit man, far from it, but he'd been sprinting in his work suit…he'd dispose of it, it was terribly sweaty, probably stained.

Hinata regarded him with a look of astonishment and a touch of worry. Sasuke tried to catch his breath, feeling mildly embarrassed about the situation, feeling her hand at his shoulder. When had his body gotten so heavy? It was light as a feather a moment ago.

"I'm…late," He puffed lamely. Hinata gave him a look that he couldn't quite decipher.

"I uhm, I waited for you." She said it so lowly that he just blinked at her a few times before he actually understood, but once he did he swallowed thickly.

Finally standing straight, he resolved to lie, and seeing stars flash before his vision "I'm sorry I got caught up at work."

Something flashed in Hinata's eyes and she smiled a small understanding smile. "O-oh…"

They paused for a long moment which allowed Sasuke to ruminate on the fact that he'd missed this reprieve from the droll of his, physically feeling his adrenaline vanish to be replaced with an overwhelming fatigue.

"Sasuke-kun, would you like to come home with me?" Hinata swung her bag onto her shoulder and brushed a strand of hair out of her face as she said it, focusing on that rather than looking him in the eye. He could tell she'd been contemplating it for a while, and probably with the purest of intentions, but his mind travelled to red-flagged areas in which he'd wondered about her saying that exact thing before.

Sasuke cleared his throat—he was too grown for this behaviour—and offered, as more of a correction for her falter in speech:

"For coffee?"

Hinata blinked and where he expected an 'Of course! What else?' she instead fiddled with the shop keys, looking away. "Ah, I'm sorry Sasuke-san, no, not for coffee."

The Uchiha took a moment to think before he made a fool of himself, thankfully Hinata filled the silence with some or other explanation as to why they couldn't have coffee (she didn't own a coffee machine and her French press was unusable for some reason he didn't quite catch). He was really waiting for her to tell him why exactly he would be there—although his heavy intake of air was beginning to make him dizzy.

He gulped down one more lungful, blinking heavily.

"Sasuke-kun?" She sounded as worried as she had before.

Oh god.

"Sasuke!"

Somehow, without his permission, his body collapsed under his own weight.

* * *

Sasuke flinched as morning light quite indelicately smacked his face, seeping through the cracks of his lids and forcing him to really truly be awake.

He yawned too deeply; realizing that even though it didn't feel it when he'd woken up it was the greatest sleep he'd had in _months_.

Soon he became blearily aware of the fact that his muscles were stiff and the room was not his bedroom.

And he just…blinked confusedly. He's wearing his pants but his dress shirt and blazer are nowhere on his body, only his tank top. The room was adequately furnished and the decorations held a hint of similarity to the coffee shop. Sasuke was oddly calm as he looked around the room with little to no recollection of he got there, but somewhere in the back of his mind he had already surmised that he wasn't in any danger, and who's place could he really be at other than Hinata's?

A charcoal eye spotted what looked to be a shrine and it made Sasuke get up to take a look. It was tiny and decorated with used candles and a vase of flowers, the framed image of the pretty woman in the in the middle of the table looked vaguely familiar, and yet not at the same time. The woman was smiling contentedly, hair the exact colour of Hinata's and a kind, round face of the same nature. They were strikingly similar in a mother-daughter way.

Turning from it he stretched his arms behind his back his stomach dropped—the sun rays glinted on the clock on the opposite wall, the light which he'd previously discerned was indicative of morning he realized was actually the glaring afternoon and his arms fell limply to his sides.

He was hours late for work.

And when the realization should've imploded on his nerves and left him rushing to find his phone to bombard his father with excuses and face the grilling disappointment and anger that would no doubt be there; he stood still. He didn't quite know what he felt as the silence around him was so benumbing, so peaceful, that he hadn't even noticed Hinata's footsteps through the hallway.

"Oh you're awake Sasuke-kun, good morning."

She was smiling so contently when he turned to her, a rosy hint to her cheeks as she addressed him. He's distracted by her pyjama shorts for only a moment before his face turns serious.

"Why didn't you wake me?"

The woman's eyebrows raised in concern as she scrambled to find an apology but Sasuke halted her by waving it off, a sudden burst of indifference on the subject.

"It's okay, I hate my job anyway."

She furrowed her brows; "Why don't you quit?"

"I don't know, sometimes I need food." Sasuke responded with crippling sarcasm but Hinata only deepened her frown.

"Well, of course you'd get a new job first." She said matter-of-factly, "But Sasuke, you fainted."

The news made sense but it also Sasuke sit on the couch, wracking his brain to remember it.

"Life's a bitch. This is just how it is, unlike you; I wasn't bred to believe the workplace was just somewhere you could frolic."

"I don't 'frolic'," Hinata answered snappishly. "And at least I'm happy, Sasuke, but you _collapsed_ , tell me it had nothing to do with work."

"It isn't!" He rebuffed, his temper giving rise to the lie.

Hinata gave a look of surprise bordering on confusion, "Then wha—"

"It's because I'm with you!" And suddenly he was up and on his way to her. "Every single day, at the ass crack of dawn I wake up four hours after leaving your shop."

Hinata was backing away from him until her knees hit the edge of her dining room table and Sasuke stopped right in front of her. She didn't look frightened, only surprised.

"Every. Single. Night." His breathing became slower as he annunciates each word.

Hinata's face was alight with a deep blush by this time, and it was truthfully the only fuel to Sasuke continuing to explain. "It's like you're just…the opposite of what's wrong in my life."

There's a deep silence in which that sets in before Hinata places her hand on the side of his neck and her thumb begins to stroke relaxingly.

"After I met you, Sasuke-kun, I wanted to see more of you. And you just kept on coming at the same time, so I did as well. It was a coincidence the first time."

As she speaks she focuses her gaze on her ministrations, and Sasuke's entire focus is on the feel of her hand and he processed her words.

Sasuke couldn't admit to anyone how draining his job was in every single way, but eventually he had pushed his friends and family away because his mental health couldn't take it…he needed a break from the noise of the day. Inadvertently he had also made himself incredibly lonely…and the sentiment was enough, really.

Their eyes are locked and Hinata's hand pauses for a split second before their lips are pulled together by a force that had been building for months.

Sasuke's hand is on her waist and lifting her to sit on the table behind her, his tongue reverberated a grateful hum as she opened her mouth against and he made quick to deepen the kiss, to which Hinata made a delightful little noise at the back of her throat and her hand travelled up from his neck into her sleep-ridden hair as she leaned further into him.

The peppermint flavour of her tongue on his own made him belatedly realize how he hadn't brushed his teeth, and yet neither minded as Hinata made quick to disrupt their kiss by removing his top. His lips landed on her neck as soon as the article of clothing was thrown to the wind, sucking and nipping, and making her squirm beneath him.

Slim, cold fingers ran up warmer chest making Sasuke moan lowly into her neck and lift his head to find her mouth again, to which Hinata eagerly reciprocated, her breathing escalating when he lifted her shirt past her breasts and squeezed one without breaking way.

Soon hands are unbuttoning his pants and Sasuke wants to smirk because they aren't his own, but equally as soon Hinata is successful and stroking his erection through his underwear making him pull away to hiss at the sudden pleasure seizing his lower abdomen. He gives Hinata a look of surprise and is completely breathless when he sees her flushed face and bruised lips, rising to give them a quick peck before his forefingers play at the hem of her shorts.

His kisses lower to her jaw. "You're so beautiful," he whispers as his kisses reach her neck. "Lean back."

Hinata plants her palms on the table behind her and Sasuke peels off her shorts. Once they're off he's hold her thighs apart, his heart practically breaking his rib cage. In a change of pace he leans down to very delicately nip the underside of her breast, and then take her nipple in his mouth, listening to Hinata draw a sharp intake of breath before his tongue prods and swirls around the hardened bud.

One hand travels up the thick of her milky thighs to a more sensitive area, and soon his middle finger find her clit, making Hinata gasp, and Sasuke is drowning in her moans, her body quivering under the attention of both his finger and his mouth. Her well-endowed chest is so malleable beneath his mouth that he can't resist planting hickeys on them, he all but rips his mouth away When Hinata starts to grind against his hand.

As if by magnetic impulse, his mouth is back on hers, because if it is not on one part of her body, it has to be on another.

"Sasuke…"

Pleasurable tremors run through voice, and Sasuke, feeling the strain against his boxer briefs; hastily tugs them down.

Leaning over Hinata again, she swings her legs around his hips and pulls him down by the back of his head in a desperate kiss. With one hand tight on her hip and the other finding her entrance with the head of his cock, Sasuke slides himself into her, his mind swimming so deep that he's gasping for air.

" _Fuck_ , Hinata." Her name is the first and easiest thing to come to his mouth before he steels himself enough to move against her.

The air around them is filled with their hollow breaths and is so unbearably hot.

Hinata is flat on her back, the table lurching with Sasuke's every thrust and his ad both hands on her hips to steady her.

Somewhere, buried in the cushions of the couch: his phone vibrates.

* * *

" _You have no new messages. Press one to hear saved messages. Press—"_

 _ **Click.**_

* * *

Sasuke hadn't spent much time at home in the past months unless it was to barely eat or rarely sleep.

As soon as the door was locked behind him he threw his phone onto the couch.

He was in a very fragile state of mind where moving to cure his depression could quite possibly leave him worse off than before, but still he had to keep the ball rolling.

He had to fix all the problems that had blown up without his maintenance during his depression, but he knew was going to prove taxing and made him want to crawl back to Hinata…but he couldn't, he had to fix his life—but first he would fix himself. Not to mention, using Hinata as a crutch and reprieve would soon prove unhealthy and he valued her for more than just good company.

His apartment was filthy—not untidy, but he had not made an effort to really clean the place in a long, long time and he made a mental note to get right on that, but he needed to do something first. He went straight for his room and sat at his desk, opening his laptop and letting his finger slide across the mouse pad.

A few clicks and then he'd successfully sent in his letter of resignation.

* * *

 _ **Beep**_

" _I'd be more proud and less inclined to worry about these recent events if you would just answer the phone. You're as stubborn as when you were a child, otouto. Father is…frustrated and calming him down is insurmountable, so I'd understand if you avoided our parents until it's quieted down, but we're still your family, Sasuke. Please at least contact_ me _as soon as possible."_

* * *

The door clicked open and the look of surprise on Hinata's face gradually eased into a more palpable awkwardness. Of course, it was understandable, Sasuke had arrived with luggage on his person (just a large suitcase) and casual clothing (he didn't really realized he owned a hoodie until packing). They stayed in a somewhat guarded silence, Hinata's gaze on his bag while he stood to gauge her reaction. Sasuke was looking for the words, and finding them was one thing, but verbalising them was entirely another.

"You're leaving…"

Hinata surmised rather quickly, rather forlornly and sincerely so…it was so plain on her face.

"I quit my job," He said, trying to change the subject and inwardly grimacing at how Hinata seemed to use so much willpower to change her expression to seem pleased.

"That's great news Sasuke-kun." She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes and Sasuke felt something inside him pivot at the sight, so he surged forward and captured her unresponsive lips with his own.

He pulled back slightly. "It's only for three months, Hina."

She blinked up at him with a hint of embarrassment burning her cheeks, at her own reaction or his nickname, he wasn't sure. "Well, why wouldn't you say so?" She said, smacking his chest.

"You reacted on your own." He smirked, leaning down to capture her lips, and this time she stood on the tips of her toes to meet him halfway as her hands naturally landed on his shoulders.

Sasuke was all too tempted to deepen it, remembering the minty overtones of mouthwash on her tongue the last time as she eagerly leaned into his lips. But he let out gruff moan as he pulled away. He didn't yet have the courage nor the resolve to admit to her that he loved her, and yet he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead as if to convey it anyway.

When he pulls away her gaze is saddened again.

"Where are you going?"

"Just a trip…but first…"

* * *

 _ **Beep**_

" _Oi Dobe, all that for you not to answer? I'm coming over. Call me."_


End file.
